Project of the Year
When I was growing up my mother invented the most annoying scheme. First, she sent me (at the age of 9) to the YWCA to learn how to sew. I made a skirt which was unwearable, but for my first try it wasn’t too bad. By high school I was tackling bound button holes. Anyway, once she got me sewing, she unveiled her new “rule” which was that you could never buy anything if it were possible to make it yourself. Even if it was well understood that you had no intention of ever making the skirt, or dress or whatever. If you could make it – even in theory – then you couldn’t buy it. I guess it saved her a lot of money on clothes.
This applied to furniture and my poor brother. I wanted a Parson’s table really badly. They were way cool. The one I liked was white with an enameled finish. I was going to use it as a desk. My mother thought, “That’s so simple! My 14 year-old son could easily make that.” And so it became a birthday present my poor brother had to craft. And why not? He’d taken wood shop in 7th grade, for God’s sake!
So, with no instructions, he was relegated to the basement to build the table. He actually managed to finish it after a year or two. (My mother didn’t believe in leaving things undone). It looked pretty good, considering it was his first attempt at furniture construction. But my mother should have bought the #$%! thing at a store and been done with it for all the torture by poor brother went through. But it made him as strong as a Russian bull (inside joke).
Today we have the Internet and you can learn how to make anything! Including a Parson’s table. So now you can relive my brother’s trial-by-fire by clicking here. Don’t forget to send me photos of your finished piece. I guess I should throw in a prize for anyone who actually finishes it by this time next year. How about a Design Hole t-shirt?
2 Responses to “Project of the Year”
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Posted by Jennifer on June 25th, 2007 at 12:36 am
What ever happened to that Parson’s table, Tiger? I guess it went the same way as my skirt. Remember when our sister sewed herself into her nightgown? She was trying to make a cullotte thing out of it while she was wearing it. Now she has a masters degree in engineering.
…8 years later, I bought some tools thinking I’d would be so much fun to make a coffee table… This led to even more fun renovating a Civil War era house. Now I’m managing the construction of tens of millions worth of commercial buildings a year- go figure. NOTE: All subsequent projects have turned out better than the Parson’s table.
As for taking some time to finish things- I have an unfinished sailboat in my garage. I’d love to tell you how long I’ve been working on it, but I can’t; it’s never polite to tell the age of a lady.